Car-underframe construction.



PATENTED DEC. 19, 1905.

A. BECKER.

CAR UNDERFRAME CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 9, 1905.

3 SHEETSSHBET l.

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No. 807,995. PATENTED DEG. 19, 1905.

A. BECKER.

CAR UNDERPRAME CONSTRUCTIN.

APPLIATIN FILED AUG. 9| 1905v SSHEETS-SHBET 2. e if y@ se f3 3 35 i a I/ PATENTED DEG. 19, 1905.

A. BECKER.

CAR UNDERPRAME CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 9. 1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WWA

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANTON BECKER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO JOSEPH S.

RALSTON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. v

CAR-UNDERFRANIE CONSTRUCTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 19, 1905.

Application filed August 9, 1905. Serial No. 273,412.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANTON BECKER, aciti- Zen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Car-Underframe Construction, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to the construction of the underframes for cars, and particularly to such an undert'rame made of metal which can be readily applied to wooden oars for the purpose of repairing and rebuilding the same.

The object of my invention is to provide such a mechanism which can be easily and cheaply made and installed in place under a car-body, which will be strong, and not readily liable to get out of order.

It consists in the useot' acentralgirder running lengthwise of the car of greater height than the cross-bearers attached to it, the top plate of each cross-bearer extending from side to side of the car through slots cut in the webs of the I-beams or channel-irons-forming the vertical members of the central girder, this in combination with the sills of the car and mechanism for securing the whole together.

It also consists Iin details of construction which will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a central sectional side view through a car having the device ot' my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. l, the floor-boards ot' the car being' removed. Fig. 3 is a sectional detail view looking lengthwise of the car, taken through a cross-bearer of the car on the line 3 of Fig. 2. Figs. A, 5, and 6 show the parts of Fig. 3 taken apart. Fig. T is a partial view oi' the side of the central girder where the cross-bearer goes through it, taken on line 7 of Fig. 3. Fig. 8 is a detail View of the inside of one plate of the girder, showing the slot through which the upper plate of the cross-bearer passes. Fig. 9 is a detail view looking at the side of the central girder, showing the method of applying the device of my invention to the bolster of an ordinary car. Fig. l0 is al detail of the central girder at the point of application of the bolster to the car. Fig'. 11 is a side, Fig. 12 a plan, and Fig. 13

an end detail view, showing the method of applying the end sill to the bolster.

When an ordinary freight-car is wrecked or otherwise out ot' repair, it very frequently happens that the truss-rods supporting the underframe of the car are injured, and it is then desirable to be able to repair the car without replacing these truss-rods. It is also desirable to build cars in the first instance without such truss-rods, and by the device of my invention I provide means by which this can be done, using either in a new or old car the wooden sills of an ordinary car or the entire car-body.

Referring to the drawings, the numerals 15 indicate the sills ot' an ordinary car, having across their tops floor-boards 16. These parts may be the lioor ofa flat, a gondola, a box, or a stock car without departing from my invention. To these sills I apply the underframe of my invention, consisting of a metallic center girder and cross bearers. The central girder is made, preferably, in box form ot' channel-irons 2O or corresponding I-beams, joined together at top and bottom by plates 21 and 22. This girder is, as shown, preferably made of considerable height, so that it will occupy approximately the depth of the sills 15 and extend a considerable distance below them. Through this box-girderI cut slots 23, through which are placed the top plates 25 of cross-bearers extending intermediate between the bolsters from side to side ofthe car,as shown. Below these plates 25 and on opposite sides of the central girder are cast-iron fillers 26, made triangular in form, the apexes of the triangles extending' toward the side of the car, as shown. Below these fillers and extending from side to side of the car is the lower plate 28 of the cross-bearers. Extending vertically through the sills 15 and the upper and lower plates and the fillers just described are vertical bolts 30, thus fastening the complete cross-bearers to the sills and parts attached thereto, as shown. The lower under plates 28 of the cross-bearers are attached to the fianges 31 of the channels 20 and the lower plate 22 of the central girder by bolts or rivets 32, as shown. The upper plates 25 of the crossbearers are secured to the lower plates ofthe cross-bearer outside the fillers 26 by the bolts IOO the side sills 36 of `the car, beingsecuredY thereto by bolts or pins 37, as shown.

For repair purposes I make the central girder and the parts of the cross-bearers in separate pieces and when a car has to be repaired quickly have a carpenter prepare the sills of the old car for the reception of my underframe by boring suitable holes for the bolts 30 through the sills. I then have a force of men place the plates 25 through the slots 23 in the central girder and after this is done attach the fillers 26 and lower plates 28 and secure the bolts 30 in position. By this construction I am able'to use a relatively deep metal central girder, which gives the car great strength and does away lwith the necessity of using truss-rods, while permitting a relatively low cross-bearer to be used.

In order to apply the device of' my invention to the bolsters 40 of old cars, I cut into the channel-irons 20 or other forms of sides of the central girder at the point at which the bolster is applied inverted-U-shaped notches 4l, in which the bolster 40 is adapted to t, as shown in Fig. 9. I reinforce the bolster at the point of cut by applying plates 43, secured to the bolster by bolts or rivets 44, as shown. Across the under side of the bolster 40 I secure to the central girdera plate 46, the plate being secured to the lower lianges 31 and the lower plate 22 of the girder by bolts or rivets 47, as shown. By this construction I am able to quickly apply the underframe of my construction to the old bolster of the car, thereby repairing the car and saving the expense of providing a new bolster in the underframe.

. I secure the central bolster to the end sills by the novel means shown in Figs. l1, l2, and

13, consisting in slitting down the channelirons 2O in the vertical lines-50 a distance from the ends of the car equal to the width of the end sills 5l and making the shear of a depth equal to the depth oi the end sills, thus forming a lip or wing 52 on each channeliron. I bend these wings 52 out at right angles to the web of the channel-iron, so as to form shelves, as shown in Fig. 13, on which the end sills rest. I secure the end sills 51 to the lips or wings 52 by the vertical bolts 54, as shown. In order to strengthen the structure just described, I secure the angle-irons 55 to the channel-irons 2O by rivets 56 and to the end sills 51 by the horizontal bolts 57, as shown.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a car, an underframe composed of a plurality of sills extending lengthwise of the car, a central girder of greater height than the sills, having part of its height extending above the bottoms of the sills and part o'f its height extending below the bottoms of said sills, a plurality of cross-bearers composed of separate top and bottom plates with intermediate fillers extending crosswise of the car, the top plates of the cross-bearers being adjacent to the bottoms of the sills and extending across the car through slots cut in the central girder, the bottom plates of the cross-bearers extending across the bottom of the girder and the fillers being located at each side of the girder between the top and bottom plates; and means engagingthe sills and the bottom plates of the cross-bearers for securing the whole together.

2. In acar an. undxerframecomposed of a plurality of sills extending lengthwise of the car, a central girder of greater height than the sills, having part of its height'extending above the bottoms .of the sills and part of its height extending below the bottoms of said sills, a Vplurality oi" cross-bearers composed of top and bottom plates extending from side to side of the car and triangular llers between said top and bottom plates, the top plates of said cross-bearers being adjacent to the bottoms of\` the sills and extending across the car through slots cut lin the central girder and the bottom plates of the cross-bearers extending across the bottom of the girders and a plurality of bolts extending through said sills, top and bottom plates and fillers of the crossbearers to secure the whole together substantially as described.

3. In a car an underframe composed of a plurality of sills extending lengthwise of the car intermediate between two side sills of greater depth than said first-mentioned sills also extending lengthwise of the car; a central girder of greater height than said intermediate sills having part of its height extending above the bottoms of the sills and part of its height extending below the bottoms of said sills, a plurality of cross-bearers cornposed of; top plates extending across the car adjacent to the bottoms of the intermediate sills, triangular lillers below said top plate as described, and a bottom plate extending crosswise of the car across the bottom of said central girder and along the bottoms of said fillers; means upon the ends of said cross-bearers for securing them to the side sills and a-plurality of bolts through said first-mentioned sills the top and bottom plates and fillers of said crossbearers whereby the whole may be detachably secured together as described.

4. In a car the combination of a central plate-girder having an inverted- U shaped notch 4l extending upward from the bottom ofl saidy girder said notch being of the same depth as the height of the bolster which is to be inserted therein, a reinforcing plate or plates 43 secured to said girder adjacent to said notch, a bolster inserted crosswise of the IOO IIO

IO right angles to the plane of the main plate or channel and an end sill mounted crosswise of the girder on said shelf and secured thereto.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two Witnesses.

ANTON BECKER.

Witnesses:

STEPHEN A. SHARP, ODA M. ERKSTEIN. 

